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- [S106] The Mountain Press, 25 Aug 2002.
Toddler faces long surgery
By:MELANIE JONES, County News Editor August 25, 2002
Craig and Heidi Underwood received the call that will change their lives Thursday night.
An organ donor had been found for their 1-year-old son, Briar at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami.
"Heidi said they have the full range of emotions: scared for what is about to take place; anticipation that Briar will become a healthy child; joy that a donor was found; and, sadness that another child had to die for Briar to have a chance to live," said R. Dewey Foust of the Huffaker Foundation, which is helping the family make arrangements and meet expenses.
"I can only imagine how they feel. Being hundreds of miles away from home in a strange city and alone would be enough stress. Add to that the stress of the surgery, and it is incomprehensible."
Briar was born with his intestines outside his body. While doctors had expected that, the problem was worse than they anticipated. The intestines had twisted and ruptured and had to be removed.
In the year and two months since their son was born, 19-year-old Heidi and 24-year-old Craig have learned to care for the baby's ostomy and to handle his feeding tube.
But they also learned that the Total Parental Nutrition that was keeping their son alive was destroying his liver. He needed an intestine transplant from the time he was born, but a biopsy revealed in December that Briar could live only a year and a half without a liver transplant.
Janet Johnson, Briar's grandmother, said the baby has recently had some trouble with the ostomy.
"That was starting to worry me," she said. "Other than that, he seemed a perfectly happy, healthy little boy."
But his condition was such that the Miami hospital had moved Briar to the top of its transplant list.
When a compatible donor became available Thursday, everything began to move quickly.
The Underwoods received the call at about 9:30 p.m. Thursday, and Heidi quickly called her mother-in-law.
"First it just totally shocked me," Johnson said. "Then I started crying; then I said, 'What are you sitting here crying for? Get over there and help them get on the road.'"
The process did not go smoothly at first because the Underwoods had trouble reaching one of the pilots who had agreed to be available to fly them to Miami.
"As you might imagine, Heidi was getting frantic," Foust said. "I reassured her that everything would work out. 'Stay calm' - this was useless advice - 'and everything will be OK.'"
Foust said he called Cherokee Aviation to make sure the right plane - the fastest at the Knoxville airport - was available. The plane was there, but its pilot wasn't. Foust tried repeated calls to Joe Powell, pilot for Horne properties, and others, to no avail.
Next he tried Bill Brooks, Rusty Wallace's pilot in Charlotte, N.C. Brooks was preparing a plane to fly to Knoxville when contact with Powell was made.
The pilot said the plane would be ready at 11:15 p.m. The Underwoods arrived at Cherokee Aviation in McGhee-Tyson Airport at 11:10 p.m., and by 11:30, they were boarding the plane.
They arrived in Miami in less than two hours, Foust said, and Powell and pilot Bill Babbies waited there until 6 a.m. in case the transplant fell through.
Their return services weren't needed.
"Heidi called at 7:35 this morning and said everything is a go," Foust said.
By 3 p.m., Johnson had heard from her son and daughter-in-law that Briar was stable, the damaged organs had been removed, and the transplant organs were ready.
The 14-pound baby was only about halfway through the procedure, which was expected to last about 14 hours.
Johnson said the family doesn't know much about the donor baby, but they understood that the family was from Mississippi, which is Heidi's home state.
"He's going to have a little bit of Mississippi in him anyway," Heidi told Johnson.
Foust said the Huffaker Foundation will continue to help Craig and Heidi Underwood find lodging and transportation while in Miami, but Johnson said the family still needs one thing.
"I would like for people to continue to pray for Briar," she said, "and for the parents of the baby who lost his life so Briar, hopefully, can have his."
Infants are less likely than adults and teenagers to receive transplants, Johnson explained.
"I just thank God that these people, whatever their circumstances, chose to donate their baby's organs."
melaniej@themountainpress.com
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 6 Feb 2003.
Toddler Briar Underwood returned to Sevier County in the early hours of Tuesday morning, much bigger and healthier than when he left five months ago.
The triple-transplant toddler and his mother, Heidi Underwood, flew back from Miami to Cherokee Aviation at McGhee Tyson Airport in a corporate jet owned by Pilot Oil Corp.
That saved a stressful road trip for Briar, 19 months, who is still in fragile health and who has a tracheotomy tube.
The flight marks the end of a momentous five months for Briar, who needed a new liver, stomach and intestine when he underwent a triple organ transplant last Aug. 24 at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. Without the operation, he would not have survived much longer.
His parents, Craig and Heidi Underwood, lived in an apartment near the hospital, and even after Briar was released in December, they had to remain in Miami.
Doctors decided last week that Briar was fit to go home to East Tennessee. Even then, his departure was delayed by one of several scares that put him temporarily back in the hospital.
The flight was not without incident. Arriving at the airport, Briar's parents accidentally locked him in the car. Briar cannot be left alone because of his trach tube, and there was no time to call a locksmith.
Trying to break in, the Underwoods accidentally shattered a window. "We were able to unlock the door through there," Heidi Underwood said. However, her husband, who is making the long drive home this week, has to put up with a broken window.
The plane's crew were "really, really nice," she said. Briar played almost all the way home before going to sleep just a few minutes away from Knoxville. But the weather was bad and "it was a little bit of a rough flight," she said.
Craig's parents met them at the airport at 2 a.m. Janet Johnson, his mother, brought balloons for Briar and flowers for Heidi. They will stay with her until Craig arrives from Florida later this week, then the Underwoods will go back to their own home in Kodak.
Johnson has been looking forward to the Underwoods' return for a long time. "I'm just in heaven," she said Tuesday. "I'm so happy I can't stand myself."
Briar, who was slow to grow before his transplant, has put on weight in the past few months. His medical needs are now more complicated than before, she said. She will learn to do such tasks as suctioning and changing the trach tube in order to help her daughter-in-law.
Heidi Underwood said the family are "ready to start our new lives" when her husband arrives. She will stay home looking after Briar; Craig Underwood will look for work. He was formerly a land surveyor and enjoyed that, she said.
Also at the airport to greet the Underwoods were Dewey Foust and his wife, Wanda. Foust runs the Huffaker Family Foundation, a non-profit that gives financial aid to the families of children needing surgery.
The foundation has picked up many of the Underwoods' cost during their stay in Miami - Foust estimates about $8,000 worth. "A considerable amount of that was contributed," he said. In any case, "we don't worry about money" when it comes to helping a family.
Foust also helped arrange for Pilot Oil to donate the use of its plane to take the Underwoods to Miami and to bring them back.
He said the foundation is now helping another child in Kingston, Tenn. with the same medical problems as Briar. Donations may be made to the Huffaker Family Foundation, 6241 Rutledge Pike, Knoxville, TN 37924.
- [S84] E-Mail, Heidi Underwood [heidi.underwood00@gmail.com], 14 Jul 2012.
- [S4] Knoxville News-Sentinel (Tennessee), 4 Mar 2007.
UNDERWOOD, BEAR LOGAN - went home to be with the Lord after 51/2 beautiful years on this earth. His life began as a fight and was he ever a fighter. Born prematurely at only 2 Lbs and 14 oz. and needing a transplant was the beginning of our blessing. On this journey our family and many who only met him learned love, patience, and the gift of life. Briar underwent the much needed transplant at 14 months of age and under the watch eye of Dr. Ross Kendall and Dr. Tomoakl Kato grew into a beautiful wonderful little boy. Briar was full of life, always playing, reading or putting puzzles together. He has had his sick moments, but the Lord knew it wasn't time. He went into the hospital for the last time on Sunday February 4, 2007. When Dr's and staff for the PICU at U.T. Medical Center had exhausted all efforts he was flown to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami where he had originally had his transplant and they gave it all they had. He was ready to go home. Briar flew away on Thursday March 1, 2007. He is gone in body but forever will live in our hearts. Briar is survived by his parents Craig & Heidi Underwood; his sister Anna Jane Merritt Underwood; grandparents Greg & Janet Johnson, Donna Chestnut & John Easterling, Gary & Jane Underwood; great grandparents Wallace & Jane Chestnut, Mr. & Mrs. R.E. Easterling, Stanley Underwood, Clair Johnson; aunts and uncles Zane Slade, Gary Lee & Lori Underwood, Robin & Shelia Underwood and cousins Raley & Camden Underwood and all other family who are so close to our hearts. Thanks for the love & support of our family in Kodak, TN, Ohio, Mississippi, Alabama. The family would like to especially thank Anita McKenzie who was Briar's other grandma. Also Dr. Ross Kendall for his unending drive to save our baby, the staff at U.T. you all know who your are, Dr. Kendall's staff for the love and care of Briar. We would also like to thank Dr. Tomoaki Kato and the staff of PICU & PTSU at Jackson Memorial for helping God give us 4 more years with our beautiful boy. And most of all we thank Briar for showing all of us the true meaning of life. The arrangements are incomplete at this time and will be announced later by Evergreen Funeral Home. Evergreen Funeral Home is honored to serve the family of Briar Logan Underwood. 865-637-7955
- [S58] Marriage Certificate.
Groom's Name Bride's First Name Bride's Maiden Name County Date of Marriage File #
UNDERWOOD CRAIG E HEIDI L EASTERLING SEVIER 11-24-2000 76233
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